Information about Saint Nicholas
Part of the Saint Nicholas Page
honoring Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker.
|
![[St. Nicholas]](stnich-icon.jpg)
|
This page features links to many sources of information about Saint Nicholas.
This page deals more with the real person of Nicholas rather than the
derivative legendary Santa Claus.
Found here are:
A very condensed version of the life of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas is is most famous for
the gifts of money he made to a suddenly impoverished family, to allow
the daughters to be married rather than to be given over to prostitution.
On three separate nights, he secretly left money at the house of the family.
He was discovered on the third night by the father, who was sworn to secrecy.
Nicholas was born in Patara in Lycia (now an abandoned site in Asia Minor), the
only child of well-to-do Christian parents Theophanes and Nona in the middle of the Third
Century A.D. He was orhaned at an early age. His uncle was Bishop Nicholas of Patara, who, recognizing Nicholas's true dedication to Christ, made him in turn a reader, a priest, and a teacher of the local flock.
Upon the death of the archbishop of nearby Myra, the council that was to pick the new leader
were shown by God that Nicholas was to be the new archbishop, and so he became Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. He used his inheritance and his considerable influence to help those in need. His kindness endeared him to the people, though he was imprisoned for a time for his profession
of Christianity, which was still illegal in the Roman Empire.
The title "Wonderworker" was bestowed on Nicholas because of the numberous miracles that he performed by the power of God; some while he was still alive, and some after his passage into the presence of God. Among these, he saved mariners from a storm; prevented the execution of three innocent men; restored to life a young boy tragically murdered; and helped preserve Myra from famine by miraculously appearing to the captain of a ship laden with grain and bidding him to come to Myra.
Saint Nicholas is the patron saint (better, "protector") of children, mariners, pawnbrokers
(go figure), and the countries of Greece and Russia, to name just a few of those who have
turned to this saint of God for assistance. He departed this life on December 6, c. 330 A.D.
Orthodox Christian sites
- Our Holy Father Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra , from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
- History of
Saint Nicholas, from the parish web page of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church,
San Jose, CA, home parish of the author of the Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker
Pages.
-
Saint Nicholas - history
- Sainted Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia from the
Orthodox Church in America.
- Saint John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church has a life story of St. Nicholas the Wonder-worker.
- At the Slava Gallery Website,
click on the "Selected Saint" icon, which at this writing is an icon of
Saint Nicholas, and which brings up a story of Saint Nicholas. Otherwise
visit the icons section. Slava Gallery provides inconographer, restoration
service, and catalog.
- St. Nicholas, from
the web pages of American Romanian Orthodox
Youth. Article derived from Orthodox Saints, Volume 4 Oct-Dec,
by George Poulos; Holy Cross Orthodox Press; 1993.
- Two entries from a Coptic
(i.e., Egyptian) Orthodox Copt-Net site:
- Saint Nicholas:
Bishop of Myra from the Coptic Orthodox Church.
- Santa Claus,
the account of Saint Nicholas from the Coptic Church's Synaxarium.
From St. George Coptic Orthodox
Church, Astoria, NY
- Saint Nicholas with
history, from SS Peter &
Paul Orthodox Church, Meriden, Connecticut (OCA)
-
Saint Nicholas life, from Saint Nicholas
Orthodox Church, McKees Rocks PA
- Will the
Real Santa Please Stand?. From Orthodox Family Life (published by
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Mogadore, Ohio), hosted by TheoLogic Systems.
- Saint Nicholas,
from Saint George Greek Orthodox
Church, Des Moines, Iowa
- A story of Saint Nicholas from
St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, Chisholm, Minnesota
- Life of
Saint Nicholas from the web page of St Nicholas Antiochian
Orthodox Church, Melbourne, Australia
- Saint Nicholas
life from Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Los Angeles
- St.
Nicholas the Wonder-worker, Bishop of Myra, from Saint
Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, Myrtle Beach (Surfside Beach), South
Carolina
- From the saints pages of Holy
Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, Staten Island, NY we find Saint Nicholas
the Wonderworker, along with an icon and the apolytikion.
-
Most Holy Saint Nicholas, from Saint Nicholas Orthodox Christian
Church, Pinellas Park, Florida
- From Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox
Church, Orange Connecticut, an unusual icon of Saint Nicholas
and a lengthy explanation of the saint's life.
- Do You Believe in Santa Claus?, from Orthotracts, an Orthodox ministry whose purpose is "Communicating the Historic Orthodox Christian Faith" via tracts.
- Saint Nicholas, Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, Shreveport, Louisiana
- The Story of Bishop Nicholas,
from Orthodox Christian Outreach, Phoenix, Arizona
- NICHOLAS
of Myra; a profile, plus list of which saint is patron of what and much
more. Hosted by the Catholic Forum.
- Saint
Nicholas of Myra links - that's all
- The Synaxarion account of Saint Nicholas.
The Synaxarion is an official church history. From the Divine Office (i.e.,
order of services) publishing section of Rongolini. I cannot determine whose
church history is being presented, though there are hints that it's of the
Melkite Catholic Church.
- Saint
Nicholas from the Domestic Church online magazine for Catholic families.
- The
Real St. Nick, from the Assemblies of
God.
- How does Santa
Claus fit with Christmas? From the Northwestern Lutheran
archive .
- St. Nicholas
with scenes from his life, from the Ukrainian
Greek Catholic Church.
- Saint Nicholas
- A Creative Giver, from Historic
Trinity Lutheran Church, Detroit, Michigan
- Father Christmas - a saint in prison!, from the very busy Ashtead Parish Anglican site, Ashtead, Surrey, England.
- Scroll past Wenceslas to Saint Nicholas in Wenceslas
and Nicholas, from Claves Regni,
the on-line magazine of St. Peter's Church, Nottingham.
- A long story of
Saint Nicholas from Saint Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Fontana, CA
- Life of Saint Nicholas,
from Saint Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church.
- Saint
Nicholas of Myra from Saint
Patrick's Catholic Church, Washington, D.C.
- Saint Nicholas
from 1 Way Only -- a Christian nondenominational ministry.
- From the Roman Catholic Passionist site Bread on the Waters:
- The Quest for
the Historical Santa Claus from St. Thomas
Net Ministry.
- St. Nicholaslife
story with icon, from St. Therese
Byzantine Catholic Church, St. Petersburg, Florida.
- The Real St.
Nick (Santa Claus) from the Christian Articles Archive
of Joyful Heart Ministries
- Santa Claus
(with history). From Kountry's Christmas Site
- Saint Nicholas of Myra, a story from
Father Pat's Place, associated with Holy Family Catholic Church, Arcadia WI.
- Links to Saint Nicholas information, from the Religion and Spirituality section of The Open Directory Project.
- The Story of Saint Nicholas, from the English Speaking Society of St. Nicholas
- Saint Nicholas Center, an incredibly large treasure-trove of Saint Nicholas links, photos, and stories of the saint. An excerpt from a 13th Century "Lives of the Saints" by the Archbishop of Genoa, Here Beginneth the Life of S. Nicholas the Bishop, is a small sample of the quality of the site.
- Saint
Nicholas of Myra text, icons, figure
- Saint
Nicholas of Myra text, paintings
- A
Origem de Papai Noel, just in case you read French.
- All About Saint
Nicholas poem, tentative history
- The Lives and Legends
of St. Nicholas
- Saint Nicholas
Day from the Instructional Materials Center of the University
of Missouri - Kansas City.
- The Story
of St. Nicholas from MasterControl
of the Baptist Home Mission Board.
- The Real Saint Nicholas
. Click on the Quick Links for more pages at the site, or search for
Nicholas. From Christmas.com .
-
Historia Sancti Nicolai by Iacobus de Voragine (A.D. 1230-1298),
in case you read Latin. From George Mason University Department of Modern and Classical
Languages, Fairfax, Virginia
-
Bishop Nicholas of Myra: Legends and sources , from Eldrbarry's Story Telling
Page
- From Non-Stop New York
- Saint Nicholas
from Pawnbrokers World. Saint
Nicholas, somehow, has become the "patron saint" of pawnbrokers,
as we are reminded by the three golden balls seen at pawn shops.
- Was
Santa Greek? from the Greece
for Visitors of About.com section.
- Biography:
Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, philanthropist (6 Dec 326). From James Kiefer's
Christian Biographies.
- Saint Nicholas's
remains in Ireland? An old legend, claims the site, tells that Irish
monks removed the relics of St. Nicholas from his shrine in Demre, Turkey,
to prevent them falling into the hands of the invading heathen hordes. Hear
about it in the song The Bones of Santa
Claus. From the website of singer/entertainer Wild Bill Watkins. (I think
he made this all up, but it was fun to think about.)
- THE STORY OF SAINT NICHOLAS,
from , makers of angel and Santa dolls.
Orthodox Catechism
Orthodox teaching about Saint Nicholas.
From the encyclopaediae
A wonderworker is one who performs miracles, or wonders. The Orthodox Church recognizes
many wonderworkers; those who by the grace of God have been granted the power to perform miracles, whether in the flesh, or through their intercessions on our behalf. Here are but a
few of them:
Return to the Saint Nicholas Page.
Please send any comments on this page to stephenparsons@yahoo.com
Last modified May 15, 2009
Copyright © 1999-2006,2009, Stephen Parsons